According to Butterfield, it was quite the contrary. He said some students had told him they felt safer knowing there were students in the parking lot at night who could call the police if anyone was trying to break into their car — something the group had done in the past.
The stigma around homelessness is something that Mendez from Long Beach City College has been fighting since the beginning of the safe parking program. He said the staff have a student-centered approach and are mindful of treating students with dignity.
“There’s all of these negative stereotypes about what a homeless person is instead of realizing that these college students are coming here to be successful. They’re coming here to work on their long-term goals and help themselves and their families,” Mendez said. “I think that level of dignity has made the biggest impact beyond the actual connection of housing partners.”
The mischaracterization of homeless students is what ended a 2019 bill that was also advocating for safe parking.
BY BRIANA MENDEZ-PADILLA | CalMatters
Pink hues adorn the horizon as the sun rises on a nondescript parking lot at Long Beach City College. The lot is quiet but not empty, with the same gray asphalt and slightly faded white lines as any other one on campus. But from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., it is much more than a place to park.
The lot is a designated area for Long Beach City College’s Safe Parking Program, an initiative from the college’s Basic Needs Center that offers safe overnight parking for students and connects them to resources like showers and Wi-Fi. The program was created to address a particular student demographic: homeless students living in their cars.
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A report from the Community College League of California found that 2 out of 3 of the state’s community college students struggle to meet their basic needs and almost 3 out of 5 are housing insecure.
To help these students, multiple legislative measures have tried to create safe parking options similar to Long Beach City College’s. The most recent effort was Assembly Bill 1818. Introduced by Assemblymember Corey Jackson early this year, the bill would have required the California Community College and California State University systems to create pilot programs to provide safe overnight parking for students living in their cars.
“Parking lot homeless programs are a best practice that’s been used throughout the nation; churches have done it, cities have done it, it’s time for colleges to step up and do it too,” Jackson said.
The bill was killed in the appropriations committee on Aug. 16, but would have required the California State University to select five campuses to participate in the pilot program; the California Community College chancellor would have had to select 20. The pilot program would have lasted through 2028.
The appropriations committee, which assesses the financial viability of a bill, estimated establishing pilot programs across the Cal State system would cost around $500,000 as well as an additional $2.25 million in annual costs. For the California Community Colleges, the committee estimated between $91,500 and $112,00 in one-time costs and $10 million to $13 million in annual costs for the duration of the program.
Justin Mendez, coordinator of Long Beach City College’s Basic Needs Program, oversees the safe parking program and said those estimates sound high, although he acknowledges that costs will vary from campus to campus. Long Beach City College has been able to fund their program for less than the committee’s estimated costs by working collaboratively with other departments and using existing contracts.
While the bill had garnered support from organizations like the California Faculty Association and the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, several community college districts and the California State University system opposed it. Some of their concerns include liability risk and cost. They also argue that providing secure overnight parking is not a permanent solution.
A Safe Parking LA parking permit …read more
Source:: The Mercury News – Entertainment
